Background
Sanetaka Sanjōnishi was born on May 11, 1455 in Japan. He was the second son of the Nanjing (minister of the interior) Sanjonishi Kimiyasu. He lost both parents at an early age.
実隆 三条西
Sanetaka Sanjōnishi was born on May 11, 1455 in Japan. He was the second son of the Nanjing (minister of the interior) Sanjonishi Kimiyasu. He lost both parents at an early age.
He also received instruction in renga (linked verse) from Iio Sögi and assisted him in compiling the Shinsen Tsukubashü, a renga anthology. He received instruction in The Tale of Genji from Sogi and Botanka Shohaku and lectured on the text and compiled a commentary of his own on it. From Ichijö Kanera he received instruction in ancient court rituals and practices.
He entered government service and held various offices at court, eventually in 1506 advancing to the post of minister of the interior and the rank of senior second rank.
Sanetaka Sanjōnishi lived at the time of the Önin War and the beginning of the period of the warring states, when the country was torn by repeated outbreaks of civil strife. He served under four emperors, Gohanazono, Gotsuchimikado, Gokashiwabara, and Gonara, at a time when the imperial household wielded very little power and was in dire financial straits. As a result, he spent much effort persuading the shogunate and other important parties to contribute funds for the carrying out of court ceremonies.
He thereafter retired from public service. After the death of Ichijö Kanera in 1481, he served as a leading authority in matters pertaining to Japanese poetry, calligraphy, court ritual and practice, and matters pertaining to incense.
In 1516 entered the Buddhist clergy, taking the religious name Gyoku.
Sanetaka Sanjōnishi was a distinguished poet and was initiated into the Kokin-denju, a series of secret interpretations of words and phrases in the Kokinshü, by the poet Iio Sögi.